Russell Lamour Jr. to headline Portland Boxing Club’s 104th event"The Haitian Sensation" will face John Thompson of New Jersey on Saturday for the IBA North American middleweight title.

...“He’s another A-list fighter. I cannot take him lightly at all,” Lamour said of Thompson, 28, who was stopped by Liam Smith in the seventh round of a WBO light middleweight title bout in 2015 in Manchester, England.

“I’ll die in that ring to win that fight, no matter what.”

The bout is especially personal to Lamour, who lost his IBA title to a familiar foe, Thomas Falowo, two years ago.

After kicking off his pro career in 2012, Lamour rolled to a 12-0 start before losing his New England title to Falowo in 2014 in Connecticut. That loss stung Lamour, who had defeated Falowo in four of the five bouts they fought as amateurs.

But it didn’t hurt quite as much as losing to Falowo again almost two years later – this time on Lamour’s home turf at the Portland Expo with the IBA title on the line.

Russell Lamour Jr. of Portland misses his bid to regain his IBA North American middleweight belt, falling to John Thompson in an eight-round decision at the Portland Expo.

Portland native Russell Lamour Jr. was unable to capture the vacant IBA North American middleweight championship in the main event Saturday night at the Portland Expo.

The event was hosted by the Portland Boxing Club, which welcomed former Olympic gold medalist and world heavyweight champion Ray Mercer and former Boston Bruin Rick Middleton as special guests. Mercer was presented with a key to the city by Mayor Ethan Strimling.

Lamour (15-3), who lost the North American middleweight belt in 2015, dropped an eight-round split decision to John Thompson (18-3) of Newark, New Jersey.